His Replacement
by x-menobsessed26
Summary: When Severus returns to his post as Headmaster, how will he react to his replacement? Post-Deathly Hallows
1. Chapter 1

She found out the hard way that being one-third of the Golden Trio wasn't as easy as everyone thought. Sure, it was nothing like her favorite muggle film stars went through, but that wasn't as comforting as it seemed.

Yesterday had been the last straw for her and Ron's relationship. After a year of dating, he was even less mature than he had been going into it. She'd had enough, so in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron, where Rita Skeeter was having a convenient lunch, Hermione had screamed and hexed a year of pent up frustration out on him. Needless to say, The Daily Prophet didn't have a very flattering front page story waiting for her when she woke up.

She sipped her tea, trying to control her growing rage, as she read on about how she needed mental health potions, how no one would ever deserve her selfishness, and how poor Ron Weasley had broken more than bones in the chaos.

If I had to hear one more complaint or critique about my cooking attempts, I would have broken a more appropriate appendage. Maybe it would have saved the wizarding gene pool some idiocy. she thought with a roll of her eyes.

A familiar pecking sounded from the window where Casper, her new white barn owl, had a letter for her. She let him in and untied it from his foot.

_Dear Ms. Hermione Granger,_

_From speaking with Harry and Ginevra, it has come to my attention that you are looking for a job. As it so happens, with Professor Snape returning to his previously acquired position as Headmaster, we are in need of a Potions Mistress. If this offer intrigues you, please send me an owl back with an available date and time for us to meet and discuss certain arrangements._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Minerva McGonagall_

A small smile fell across her lips. She could have just imagined the conversation which took place when Professor McGonagall was attempting to convince Snape to let Hermione in at his old post. Oh, he couldn't be happy about this.

She wrote a quick note of confirmation back and asked to meet the next day, if at all possible. It wasn't but an hour later, she received the 'okay' in return.

Hermione turned in early that night so she could wake up and prepare for the next day earlier than she usually would have. She dressed professionally and did her best to keep her beast of hair at bay. At 9:00 sharp, she flooed to Professor McGonagall's office, "Good morning, Professor."

The older woman greeted Hermione with a smile, "Please, call me Minerva. We are to be colleagues after all."

Hermione nodded and sat across from her, "So, Professor Snape is Headmaster again?"

Minerva nodded, "They, the Ministry, offered the position to me first, but I prefer the duties I already have. In response, they decided to give him back the position after everything he did for us. Despite the things he let happen during the war, which he didn't have a choice but to let happen, he was a decent Headmaster."

"I'll bet the students are none too happy about it," she laughed.

"Au contraire. Now they won't be forced to deal with him as a professor. Instead, hopefully, they'll have you."

"I'd be glad to assume the position, but I'm sure you're aware that my Potions abilities aren't my greatest attributes."

Minerva shot her a wry look, "Considering you managed to brew the Polyjuice potion as a second year, I fully believe you'll be fine."

"Thank you, Minerva. When do you wish me to move in and start?"

"If you wish to go home and pack all of your belongings, you can move in anytime. You have my permission to floo through here later to bring everything with you," she replied.

"Thank you again," Hermione replied. "After a year of doing nothing, it will be nice to have a job to put me to work."

"Trust me, Hermione. You'll wish you were back to doing nothing by the Halloween feast."

**This will be my first Severus x Hermione fic. Please leave me a review telling me what you think of the first chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione finished putting the last book on the shelves of her new office, which was made much larger during the reconstruction of Hogwarts, and stood back to admire her hard work. Tears coated her eyes for a moment as she thought about how proud her parents would have been.

She had traveled to Australia with the full intention of restoring her parents memories. When she'd found them, they were happier than she had ever seen them before. Swallowing her selfishness, she'd turned around, sobs caught in her chest, and walked away.

Hermione shook her head to rid her mind of the memories and turned around, running into a lean figure clad in black, "I'm sorry, Headmaster."

His mouth curled into his signature sneer, "Well, well. Minerva insisted on hiring the Gryffindor Princess because of her 'extraordinary capabilities', and she walks worse than Nymphadora did."

She bit her tongue to keep herself from yelling at him about trampling on graves. It probably wasn't a good idea to make her boss angry on the first day of the job.

"Cat got your tongue, or have the dimwitted duo killed any intelligence that you had left?"

"Headmaster, whether you like it or not, we will be colleagues from now on. I am no longer your student, and I would appreciate it if you could talk to me as such," she replied through gritted teeth.

A flash of anger passed through his onyx eyes, "You would do well to mind your tone, Ms. Granger."

"It may do you well to show the same courtesy. You see, I don't need this job. I can always find another. You, on the other hand, are in need of a suitable Potions Mistress. As I'm sure I wasn't your first choice, that leads me to believe that you have exhausted all other possibilities. Do you really wish to fire me this close to the start-of-term?"she asked, her mind shaking.

Suddenly, he reached out and gripped her forearms. His eyes were made of black fire as he snarled, "Don't you dare begin to believe that my life revolves around you! I promise you I will continue searching for a replacement for you. I don't want you here! I don't need you here! Understood?"

He released her, making her stumbled backwards into an armchair as he swept out of the room with his ridiculous cape following.

She was trembling like a terrified rabbit, but she had to smirk. He hadn't said she was wrong, and he hadn't killed her. Oh, this was going to be an interesting year.

**Thank you so much for all of the follows and such on this story. I can't wait to get farther into this story. I should get the third chapter up later today, and chapter 4 up tomorrow, unless I get delayed. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione was so nervous the day before the start of term that she couldn't sleep. She had gone over her lesson plans many times to the point of perfection, but she couldn't stop being nervous.

She sat in the Great Hall, awaiting the coming Sorting Ceremony, accessorized with circles under her eyes almost as dark as the finger shaped bruises on her arms had been. She hadn't seen or heard from him in the week since the altercation, but there he sat in the middle of the table, looking as menacing and insufferable as ever.

The ceremony passed in a blur of names she was sure she would learn in due time. Then she was introduced as a new Professor. The cheers, especially those from Gryffindor house, were deafening. A broad smile stretched her lips, and she felt more at home than she had in almost a year.

The feast was over before she knew it, leaving her to walk slowly back to her office and bed to sleep off all of the food she'd consumed. The only thing that made her slightly uncomfortable with the arrangement was the room being so close to the Slytherins. She didn't have any allies in that house, but many enemies.

The thought terrified her.

She woke up the next morning feeling well rested and ready to take on even the most rowdy Hufflepuffs. Hermione gathered some of her essential supplies and made her way into the classroom. She'd missed breakfast, but found she wasn't hungry.

There some fourth-years were already making their way into the room and by the looks of their robes and her remembrance of her schedule, this was the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw group, "Good morning."

They called back out with greetings which sounded more like curses in their general tone, telling her exactly how they felt about not being in bed. She smiled at them, "I have a small assessment for you today. This quiz will not be graded. It is just for me to get an understanding of where you are. I expect it to take you the whole time, so no need to rush. Please bring it up to me when you're finished."

She handed out the tests, unable to keep the satisfied smirk off her face. This was one of her dreams, and she was living it.

The rest of the day passed by in a flurry of assessments and the students gradually warmed up to her. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, the Headmaster had heard. He walked down the dim corridor, passing some instantly frightened Ravenclaws as he made his way into the all too familiar classroom.

"It seems our student body is quite taken with you," Severus sneered.

She mentally sighed, but outwardly smile, "That's good, I suppose. The Slytherins, particularly the third years, will probably end up getting more than a few points taken away. Even when I was here, I never saw such foolishness!"

"What did they do? Dye Nelson Partridge's hair green again?"

She snorted, "Hardly! How would you feel if I told you they were mixing ground turquoise, essence of locust, hawk talons, and ivy stem?"

His head shot up from where he had been inspecting the floor, "I'd wonder why in Merlin's good name they would wish to destroy this half of the school, if not all."

Hermione tossed him a piece of parchment which he snatched out of the air, "The names of the offenders. Their plan was brilliant, if uneducated. Having each person bring one item to put in the same cauldron. Brilliant."

"I suppose I must take action and offer an...apology," the word was spat out like spoiled milk. "I trust you will keep a closer eye on your students."

Her eyes narrowed, "Would you like to switch places? I'll be Headmaster and you can have your classroom back. Then I can tell you how to run your class."

Though he would never admit it, he was impressed. He clearly remembered the days during which he could get the girl to cry from just commenting upon her intelligence. She had grown up, "If you'd do your job, I wouldn't have to tell you. Part of my job is making sure you do yours."

"Oh, stuff it! We both know you don't actually do anything! You just like bossing people around!"

Severus reached out and grabbed her by the arms so hard she was promised bruising on top of her other bruises. To her credit, she didn't flinch, and her glare never wavered, "I did enough during the war to credit me for a lifetime of work. What have you done? Nothing!"

"I've done plenty," she hissed. "Who do you think did most of the work in the Golden Trio? Ron was nearly useless, and Harry's not as brilliant as people are led to believe."

"And still you stayed."

"They're my friends."

"They're pathetic."

"What would you know about being pathetic?"

"Plenty," he snarled.

With the tension between them, it shouldn't have been a surprise that it hit 'sexual' rather quickly. He caught his hands in her bushy mane and kissed her hard. It took her less than a second to respond, and respond she did. Lips attacked lips and hands clawed at backs as they held each other. The whole thing couldn't have lasted more than a minute, but it felt like it.

When they broke apart, she fell backward, hitting her head against her desk. It didn't hurt her, but she wouldn't have felt it anyway. Hermione was too busy studying her ex-professor, trying to gauge if today was her deathday.

Apparently not, as he practically ran from her room in an attempt to keep her alive. Severus hated to admit it, but she had potential as a great professor.

And maybe something more.

**Like I said, up later today. Here you go! Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

Needless to say, neither showed up for dinner that night or breakfast the next morning. It started the rumor mills turning, but none in the accurate direction.

When a group of over eager seventh year Hufflepuffs was heard betting on what methods of his glare he had used on her (judged by her behavior, obviously), she knew she had no choice but to show up for diner. Besides that, he stomach was continuously making the most unpleasant sounds now.

First off, however, she knew Severus deserved some form of apology for what happened. She sat herself down, took a deep breath, and began to write.

* * *

The letter floated in delicately, landing like a summer butterfly in front of him. He picked it up, ignoring the Minister's letter about the school's defenses temporarily, and read.

_Severus,_

_To put it simply, I am not quite sure how to, or even if I should, address the issue of what happened yesterday afternoon. However, I have a nagging suspicion that I owe you an apology. I am sorry, Severus. Truly sorry. I have no idea what I was thinking when I did what I did, but I more than likely wasn't thinking at all. I can understand if you don't accept the apology, but I just wanted to establish a sense of closure upon the event. Good day._

_Ms. Granger_

Her handwriting flowed like a lost art down the page, the ink still wet in some places. For the second time, he was impressed. He had expected them both to just ignore it altogether. Her bravery surprised him, though it shouldn't have.

She was a lion.

He was a snake.

There was a distinct difference in the behaviors of the species, and they weren't always flattering. It startled him that the recognition of that fact made him saddened beyond that with which he had been sad in the last few years

* * *

Hermione at her dinner without really tasting it, probably for the first time in the history of Hogwarts. She was too focused on the chair three down from hers that sat empty. The Headmaster's chair.

It unnerved her to think of the formidable man receiving her note and rejecting it entirely, only growing more angry. The fact that all of that anger would be directed mainly at her made her shiver in fear. She may have grown into her house, but that didn't mean she enjoyed having to be courageous.

Just then, a note inconspicuously floated into her empty hand. She put down her fork and opened it.

_You're forgiven._

It was all she could do not to scare the students with her grin of relief. Just then, a bunch of the school's owls decided to deliver mail to the staff, odd for this time of day, but not unheard of. A letter landed in front of each one, the seal stamped with the mark of the Headmaster.

After a quick scan, her heart dropped out of her shoes. She didn't want to see anyone in the Ministry ever again. They were rude and obnoxious and...rude.

Now she had to go to a ball with them.

**Short. I know. That's becoming my theme again. Anyway, it's still something and I'd appreciate a review if you could do so!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I understand that the ending for last chapter was a bit confusing. It was meant to be. Hopefully this chapter, which is about the letter she got at the end, will make the last chapter make more sense.**

Hermione was in the last place she wanted to be. She would gladly bring Bellatrix LeStrange back to life to duel her if it meant getting out of here. She was at a dress fitting.

The damned Ministry was still trying to smooth over the irreparable relations caused from the rift of the war, especially among the Hogwarts staff. Because of this, the Ministry held a ball for officials employed, either directly or distantly, by them so as to show that they "still cared". Hermione was now required to go to such events.

Now she was in the middle of a rather uncomfortable fitting. Her best friend, Ginny, was the one fitting her, as she was also required to attend. She felt hideous. She felt exposed. She felt murderous.

She swore that the next time Ginny poked her with a needle, she was going to get a stunning spell in the nose.

"Gin, why must you insist upon me wearing this dress?" Hermione fingered the skirt. "Why couldn't I just find something off the rack?"

Ginny held a hand to her chest in mock offense, which Hermione wasn't entirely sure was fake, "What kind of a friend would I be if I let you go to the ball with something so generic? You could find yourself the equivalent to my Harry there! Would you really want him to see you for the first time looking like every other witch?"

"I wouldn't want him to see me at all!" Hermione shouted. "I love my life as a single witch, thank you very much."

"You'll end up like McGonagall, 'Mione! You'll be alone!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Minerva is single by choice, Ginny. The love of her life was a muggle and she didn't want to give up magic for him, which I'm sure even you with your narrow spectrum can understand. She's also not alone! She has an entire school full of people to keep her company, always has."

Ginny rolled her brown eyes, "Yes, but you can't get much action from a student body, unless you want to get sent to Azkaban."

"You're sexual will to abstain is extraordinary, Ginny," Hermione said sarcastically, shaking her head.

"You'll see. This dress is perfection."

Hermione snorted, secretly wondering if her friend was right.

* * *

If the fitting was bad, then the ball was apocalyptic. The only men so far to hit on her were ancient in age or looked like a troll. This was quickly ranking in the top twenty worst nights of her life.

Hermione stood to grab yet another glass of the somehow multi colored butterbeer, colored to match the Hogwarts houses, and that's when he saw her.

Severus was just about to raise the goblet of Slytherin colored butterbeer to his frowning lips when she caught his black eyes. Her brown hair was curled into what he was sure would hang in ringlets down her back if it wasn't pinned to exact position atop her head in a crown. Her dress was strapless red satin, adorned golden flowers. Gryffindor had never looked so good on the bookish lioness.

Clearly, her target intended had been the line of butterbeer bowls, but he guess with amusement that in seeing one of the many older members of the Wizengamot, she'd opted for a colder detour. She discreetly made her exit for the balcony.

It was an oddly cold night, being cold enough to snow, so he felt it was his duty to offer his cloak to her for warmth. Of course, there was absolutely no other motivation for encountering the young, albeit brilliant, witch. He stood and followed her.

He walked out into the cold, his thick cloak shielding himself from the wind where it was, indeed, beginning to snow. He didn't have to walk far to see her, standing at the far end of the walk. He strode over to meet her.

"It's more than a little chilly to use this as your hiding place from lechers, don't you think?"

She jumped, startled, "Oh, Headmaster Snape. What do you want?"

"Just wondering why you've chosen to hide yourself from the sensualist politicians of our world."

Hermione scoffed, "I would have hidden myself from the 'sensualist politicians' of the muggle world as well."

"Be that as it may, you should know that they can't do anything to you in a room full of other witches and wizards, so there was no point in being the opposite of your house and running from them," Severus sneered.

"Opposite of my house, sir?"

"Cowardly."

Her blood began to boil, "Did you just call me a coward?"

"Oh, and look. The little know-it-all lioness has working ears!" Severus grinned harshly.

Her wand hand twitched and she began to shake, "If there is anything I am not in this world, then it is a coward."

"Your actions say otherwise."

"So me taking responsibility for myself and not wishing to lose my job because I hexed a rather favored part off of some of the highest ranking members of the Ministry is being a coward?"

He took a step closer, towering over her with his height, "Obviously."

"Then can not the same argument be made for you, hiding away in your office almost every day, refusing to be the least bit social."

"For everything I've done, I think I deserve a bit of privacy," he growled, his own wand hand twitching.

"Aren't you splitting hairs now, Professor?" she continued. "Cowardice and privacy, in the circumstances we're applying them to, are to very similarly different elements. Could it not be you who is the coward? After all, I don't see you involved in the house of bravery."

A million sharp retorts were on the edges of his lips, ready to spill over, many of them profane and childish, but instead of saying anything, he acted.

He kissed her.

It was different from their first kiss. That one was all passion and intensity. This one started out hard and fast, but ended slow and gentle. His hand caressed her cheek as he continued to explore her mouth and her arms wound their way around his neck. The ball, the world, didn't seem to exist anymore, much less matter. All that mattered was them.

Neither knew how long or how short the time was that they had kissed. Severus pulled back and looked into her coffee eyes and found himself actually smiling at her. No one had ever been able to do to him what she was. Getting a rise out of Severus Snape was easy, but making him feel so strongly about something such as this...no. Impossible, except that it wasn't. Hell, what was this? He couldn't even think straight.

Hermione kissed his lips again, long and sweet, before she pulled back and let go of him. She turned gracefully, picked up her skirts, and ran.

He let her go.

She ran through the ball, attracting attention but not caring, and through the Ministry until she was able to get to a fireplace in order to safely floo to her office. There, she shut off her fireplace from the floo network, put up enough wards to make Malfoy Manor look like a child's playground, and sat down on her bed to cry.

What she had done was inexcusable. What had she been thinking? Kiss her boss? Kiss her ex-professor? Kiss _Severus Snape?_ It was all too much to comprehend at the moment.

In her sea of blurry confusion, she was able to find one sure truth. She had enjoyed kissing him, and knew he'd enjoyed it too.

**I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update, but I had severe writer's block on this story. The idea I'd originally had has gone to the moon and it's not coming back. I guess we'll play it by ear then.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I apologize for the delay in updating again. Still, I wanted to get another chapter of this story out for all of you while I struggle with writer's block, and I hope you enjoy it.**

"No, Margaret," Hermione said, rubbing her temples. "The antidote to uncommon and the antidote to common poisons are not even near the same as the antidote to veritaserum. That is why they came up with the antidote to veritaserum. Otherwise, I'm sure they would be using one of those two."

"Then why don't they just come up with specific antidotes to all other poisons," the black haired Gryffindor asked loudly, drawing attention from the rest of the fourth year class.

Breathe, Hermione. she thought. She took a deep breath to steady herself and tried to lessen her glare on the curious and thick girl, whose personality reminded her quite a bit of a certain ginger male friend of a hers, "Because, Ms. Patten, it is much more convenient to carry around two vials, one for the common antidote and one for the uncommon, than a hundred vials, each meant for a different poison."

The poor girl still looked like she didn't understand, but walked off nonetheless. As the day ended, leaving Hermione with a furious migraine, the students left. Severus stood in the doorway, grinning mentally as students walked past him, heads bowed to the floor so as to avoid eye contact.

After the last infantile excuse for life had meandered around him, he shut the door with a flick of his hand and announced, "It seems most Gryffindors are still as stupid as they ever were."

She jumped, turned around, and, despite the look in her eyes that loudly proclaimed her distaste of being in his presence at the moment, she still responded, "Not stupid. Naive, perhaps, but we all can't be smart."

He nearly laughed, "Margaret will surely find herself working the counter at the Weasley's shop before she gains any sort of brilliance."

"It has nothing to do with the house sorting. If I recall, it was just a few weeks ago that your Slytherins nearly blew up the school, and, believe it or not, a Ravenclaw 4th year turned bright purple just yesterday after failing to follow the proper instructions," she crossed her arms defiantly.

Severus began walking toward her, a small grin on his face. She had no idea she was moving toward him the same way, "Say you're right. What is your excuse for being brilliant?"

She did a double take and then looked confused, "Was that...almost a compliment?"

"You have to ask?"

Hermione quirked an eyebrow, "How often do Slytherins compliment without malicious intent?"

"Who is spouting house stereotypes now? I was simply-"

"Simply nothing! If you wanted something simple, you would have delivered an owl!"

He could feel his blood pressure rising and his smile turned into a grin, "Am I not allowed to tell an employee that her potions services are no longer required?"

She dropped the book she had been holding, and it fell into an empty cauldron on the floor, "You've found another already?"

"I told you I'd be searching. Did you think I'd lied?"

"May I ask who he or she is then?"

"You may remember Theodore Nott from your time here at Hogwarts."

She nearly tripped as she walked back to her desk, "Theodore Nott?! That's who you've hired to replace me?"

He pushed his chin up in arrogance, "Why not? He was just as accomplished in Potions as yourself, and he's not as temperamental."

She bit her tongue from spewing more venom at him, which is precisely what he wanted, she knew. Oh, she was still embarrassed about the kiss at the Ministry they had shared, neither of them had apologized for it, but her anger was fiery. His grin proved he knew exactly what she wanted to say.

Her voice was like acid was she said, "Do you need anything else, Headmaster, otherwise I would prefer to be left in peace to pack up my things?"

"Whatever would you need to pack up for?"

It was the first time Hermione had ever felt truly stupid. She ran back over their conversation in her mind, searching for any indication that she still had a job. When she came up with nothing, her shock only allowed her to squeak a quick, "Huh?"

He truly laughed this time, the sound dancing along her skin and doing vulgar things to her mind. He stepped closer, grabbed her arms, and brought her close to him, "It seems your brilliance only goes so far, Ms. Granger."

"You'd be surprised how far my brilliance can go," she breathed, wondering why and how she was so worked up about this man whom she had hated not a month ago.

Severus brought his lips closer to hers, "Care to demonstrate, Professor?"

Before she could utter another word, his mouth took them from her along with her thoughts and breath. Her legs became equivalent to the result of a well place jelly-legs jinx, and she would have fallen on her bum and Severus' arms not captured her. Her own arms wound themselves around his neck, securing her hold on him.

They broke apart when the need for air became too much and brown eyes met black once more. After a moment, still breathing deeply, Severus smirked, "Hermione, how do you feel about teaching Arithmancy?"

Her answer was another kiss.

**Only an epilogue chapter left. Please, as always, leave a review to make me feel better about how horrid this story has become.**


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